Miss Marm Blog

Sparkler Frankie is a talented writer with strong opinions. Check out the essay he's planning to submit to colleges.

Prompt: In our history various people have taken stands against injustice, often at great personal risk. Have you ever taken a stand against something you considered unjust—or if you haven't, do you have an idea of what it might take for you to take such a stand? Please explain.

Ever since I learned of abortion and what it is, I knew it was wrong. I felt and still feel that taking the lives of innocent babies is wrong. I am ashamed to say that I haven’t done much about it. I wish that I could write this essay and say that I’ve changed the world and that everyone agrees and that all things wrong have been eliminated, but I can’t do that. However, I can do something now.

We're reading college application essays here on the Miss Marm blog, and today we've got a occulted doozy by Nita.

Musings Inspired by Simplicity

Sunday morning. The gnomon is already halfway through its day’s journey as I steer my bike onto the deserted, taciturn street and continue past the stop sign. The chipped paint and the straining planks are a tribute to toil; the wandering words drifting through my mind are one to tautology. Stagnancy pervades the atmosphere, yet this bucolic side of town is not without vitality. Simplicity, the source of sanguinity, teases my senses and coils herself around the ether of the world. A gentle breeze from the north carries the flowers from the Bradford pears to the deep green grass like snowflakes, occulted from the naked eye. Tulips line the edge of the center, circular garden bed, bright red and brilliant yellow. A butterfly floats by, uninhibited, unrestricted, free. Free from captivity or slavery, liberated. Liberty, conceived by Delacroix, Bartholdi, and Bellamy but emanating from distinct muses, struggles to lead the people, enlighten the world, and extend herself to all. Circling the cul-de-sac, a canopy formed by pine trees and crape myrtles offers a glimpse of nature’s heaven in the same way that Hinduism and Christianity can converge, creating a cross-section from which the idea of a trinity may emerge.

Judging by my inbox, you guys are working hard on your college application essays and personal statements. Let's make the grueling process more fun by reading each other's work and judging it in the comments! Here's how it will

Today, I bring you a guest post from SparkLife blogger Jon Skindzier. Enjoy!

When it comes to research papers, students fall into one of three categories: Lucky kids, who wrote their first research papers in middle school (though at the time it probably felt more like a mix of jail time and English than it did luck), confident kids who aren't intimidated by anything, and then a third group, to whom the first paper is a lengthy enigma worth half a grade.

Often they wind up terrified and unprepared, blundering around at the last minute with a haphazard stack of cryptic, out-of-order index cards. They feel like they've just been robbed by the Riddler. You do not want to be in this group, but if you are, here's a list of vital research paper do's and don'ts: